I just had a VERY frightening experience.....Epilepsy?
 

I hope it's ok for me to post in this section as this isn't about one of my yorkies, but my large-breed dog, Kaddie (Italian mastiff).

Kaddie is an 8 month old female and has had no health problems in the past. This morning when we got back from our walk she went and lay in her crate, which she normally does. About ten minutes later I heard the most horrendous noise.....Kaddie was thrashing around on her bed, her eyes were rolling and her mouth was foaming....every muscle in her body seemed out of control and she had peed and pooped. I frantically rang the vets and told them she was having a seizure....after a few seconds (that felt like a lifetime) Kaddie collapsed onto her side....her eyes were wide and un-focused and her tongue was lolling out of the side of her mouth. I didn't think she was breathing. I thought she was dying.

The vet wanted me to bring her straight in...I don't drive and my DH is working out of town this week. I called our friend Dan (who owns Kaddie's parents) and he raced straight round to take us to the vets. By the time he arrived at my house Kaddie was a lot more 'with it' but she didn't seem to recognise me at all and couldn't stand....it was very upsetting:( Dan has stayed at the vets with her while she has blood taken and other tests....I've had to stay at home with the children.

I'm worried sick. Does anyone have experience of epilepsy in dogs? I have epilepsy myself and my seizures are successfully controlled with medication....if it turns out to be epilepsy is there medication for dogs?

Sorry for the long, rambling post, I know she's not a yorkie but I know you'll all appreciate how much I love her and how frightening this is....thank you so much for reading and for any imput.

Love from Claire xxx

sounds like she was having a seizure and Yes, they have medicine for it. I have a sheltie that has been having seizures for almost 4 years now, after a nasty knock to his head. His are generally under control but even on the pheno he has 2 to 3 small seizures a year. He doesnt thrash around, he gets a blank stare and starts backing up over and over again. I generally put him in his crate and sit there with him to comfort him untill its over, usually they only last a few minutes but it does seem like a enternity. I will keep your Kaddie in my thoughts and prayers.. please update when you can.. ((hugs))

Thankyou for your reply :) I'm relieved to hear that there is medication if she does have epilepsy. And, yes, it did feel like it was lasting forever...in reality it could have only been seconds. Kaddie is at home now...she was very unsettled at the vets so they said to bring her home so she can rest (she's asleep now). We have to wait for blood test results. The vet didnt seem overly concerned - he said he can't say for definite that it's epilepsy after one seizure. Thankyou for keeping her in your thoughts and prayers...I'll certainly update this thread xxx xxx

One of my girls developed epilepsy after she went in for a routine dental and her heart stopped beating, they revived her but 2 weeks later she had her first fit. It was very frightening, but on medication she was doing okay. Unfortunatly she developed heart problems, when she had a haert attack at the same time as a fit everyone agreed it was time to call it a day. Things have improved alot these days, my cousin has an elderly cat with diabetis who is still going strong after 4 years. My best wishes for you and this poor dog. Hope its just a one off and she gets better.

join canine epilepsy group on yahoogroups.com -- sounds like epilepsy since foaming at mouth :( unless you think she got into something toxic on the walk and if so the liver enzymes will be elevated -- if epilepsy nothing will be off on the blood work -- if liver disease or toxin ALT will be high so let us know when blood work is back what highs and lows are so we can try to help. Seizures can come from other things as well but epilepsy is hard to detect so your vet is correct as one seizure cannot determine it so if blood work is perfect then i would suspect epilepsy -- the drug they try first is potassium bromide and if they need stronger it is phenobartal.

MAKE SURE REAL IMPORTANT NO ROSEMARY IN DOG FOOD , TREATS, SHAMPOOS ETC as dogs that are prone to seize will seize on Rosemary as my healthy dog had a petit mal after eating rosemary chicken so VERY IMPORTANT.

Did she get into anything on that walk??

wow did they use propofol, isoflurine, iv fluids and catheterization? as that seems so odd :( so sorry that happened to your baby -- and did your baby have blood work and urine before going under anesthesia? I bet they used ket-val to put yours under as that is known to cause seizures and why i ask to never use that and it should not be used in toy breeds as not safe

As I read this, I got goosebumps! How traumatizing for you...I hope your children didn't see this.:( I don't know much about seizures, but I did have a senior toy poodle have a seizure on me when I was grooming him (I was warned ahead of time that he has seizures). It was terrifying, but I just held onto him tight & told him he'll be alright. It lasted about a good minute (seemed like a long time tho) & I thought at times he couldn't breathe & he was gonna die on me. He was fine afterwards, like nothing happened. So I finished grooming him.
Kaddie & your family will be in my thoughts & prayers. Please keep us updated.

Thankyou very much for this information, I really appreciate it :) I always walk Kaddie on a lead and so I know she definitely didn't eat/chew on anything during our walk. I've never noticed her chewing on any of the plants in our garden, but my husband cut bits from all our shrubs and plants yesterday evening and took them into for the vet to look at just in case. I should know more about the blood work either tomorrow of Friday, so I'll post when I know the results.

The vet said that if the blood work is normal then I'll have to keep a diary of seizures that she has (length of time she's fitting, how long it takes her to come round etc) so that they have an idea of how best to medicate. Unfortunately the vet said that, if it is epilepsy, the younger a dog has it's first seizure, the more severe it is in later life :( However, he also said that she may never have another one in her life...so I'm hoping for the best.

Thanks for the heads up about Rosemary...Kaddie has some chicken and rosemary treats, I'll stop giving those to her right away. xxx xxx

Thankyou so much for your thoughts and prayers :) As soon as I realised what was happening I took my children to another room to play....I didn't want them to see, or to see how upset I was..I also quickly put Twinkle and Wicket in to their crates, they seemed very interested in what was going on and I didnt want one of them to get hurt.

Like the poodle you groomed, Kaddie was totally fine afterwards...like nothing had ever happened!

Thanks again for your kind words xxx

I'm so sorry for your loss:( It sounds like a frightening and very upestting experience. Yes, I'm hoping it is a one-off too...the vet said it is a possibility.

Thankyou for your well wishes xxx

Any new update? I hope all is ok! :)

I can totally relate to you. My Stormy had a couple seizures, and once two within a couple hours of each other. They were the most terrifying experience ever for me I was traumatized! I swear I was afraid to be left alone with her a few nights after it and my anxiety was out of the roof. You feel so helpless and in a panic! Stormy would cry out and then do the blank stare as well as paddle her feet and then just go totally limp with tongue out, I believe she would stop breathing aswell because we did CPR to revive her on the way to the vets. They never did figure out why she had them and she was fine for a while afterwards. I know she was very stressed when these happen, she had just come to live with us. Has anything changed recently?

Thank you :) I should get Kaddie's blood test results today...so I'll post and let you al know the outcome. She seems totally fine since it happened - like nothing ever happened!

No, there haven't been any changes at all....I've been looking on the internet about epilepsy in dogs and it does mention things like eating toxic plants or chewing on painted wood. Kaddie's always walked on a lead so I know she hasn't got hold of anything she shouldn't. Also, my DH took samples of the plants in our garden to show the vets too....I've never noticed her eating them, but I wanted to cover all bases.

Helpless and panicking are the perfect words for how I felt! I dont think I've ever been so frightened:eek:

I'll keep this thread updated....thankyou everyone for your kind words and information :) xxx

Yes it was frightening, more the heart attack I think as the poor little thing screamed even though she was out of it through the fit. The vet was just saying at that moment it wasn't as bad as the one she'd had 2weeks earlier. It shook the vet up to I think as normally they wait for a nurse to hold the pet while putting in the injection, she just grabbed the needle, I held Poppy instead, But at least she was in my arms as she slipped away. On a happier note I descovered an old camera film in a draw, decided to have it developed and there was Poppy sweet little face looking back at me, brought back some happier memories of her.